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Moodle 2.7 Released

The below content comes from the Moodle.org (http://docs.moodle.org/27/en/New_features) and provides a high level overview of the new features in Moodle 2.7. Some updates of particular interest to me being the ATTO editor and the Restricted Access.

The restrictive access feature allows for conditional branching of students thus providing alternate learning paths. Activities can be created and depending on a grade condition different activities can be shown to students.

With the new ATTO editor in Moodle 2.7 we can now extend its functionality with our own adaptive content tool (ACT). This allows the teacher to build responsive content in Moodle without the need of a 3rd party authoring tool.

Combined with the new quiz features, restricted access and reporting in Moodle it provides for a complete learning solution.

For all users

Atto, a new, simple-to-use editor

Our new Moodle editor focuses on usability and accessibility. TinyMCE is still available, but Atto will be the best editor for most people. Learn more

Modern appearance with improved responsiveness

Moodle now uses Bootstrap themes by default for improved responsive design and usability. Many small improvements have been made all through the interface. You can find more themes in the Moodle Plugins database.

Mathematics improvements

Atto features a new mathematical equation editor, producing TeX with a WYSIWIYG interface without needing Java. This means it works everywhere, even tablets and phones. We’ve also added a new MathJax filter for displaying mathematical equations beautifully, without needing any special server setup. Learn more

For teachers

Enhancements to this widely used teaching feature in Moodle include an improved, streamlined interface, as well as added support to enable restricted access with “or” conditions and use nested restrictions for complex access criteria. Learn more

Improved Assignment features

Control when to notify students of feedback via a checkbox when grading individual students.

Teachers can now be assigned permissions to edit or delete student submissions.

Set a word limit, and comment and edit directly on students’ online text assignments.

Easily create and manage Quiz & Question bank

As well as an updated question type selector, duplicating and moving questions is now easier, and there is an option to ‘Save changes and continue editing’. Quiz reports have been improved and the Essay question now allows students simply to add an attachment with no accompanying text. Learn more

For administrators and managers

A long term support release

Moodle 2.7 is a LTS release, meaning it will have an extended support of 3 years (until June 2017) for security and data-loss fixes (1.5 years for bug fixes), twice the time of other releases. This makes it an ideal, stable platform for long-term projects.

Improved logging for better reporting

A new logging subsystem with plugins allowing detailed and external logs provides opportunities for improved reporting as well as advancements in better learning analytics

Easily customise and brand your Moodle site

‘More’ is a new responsive theme designed for admins to easily make basic customisations to the look and feel of their Moodle site directly, without the need for advanced technical knowledge. Learn more

Scheduled tasks management

With an improved scheduling system, tasks can be scheduled precisely, even on complex clustered servers. See Scheduled tasks for details.

Improved Events system

Events have been improved all through Moodle, allowing you to better integrate your code with Moodle. A new dynamically-generated report listing all events and event details helps administrators, researchers and developers understand the system.

Log in with your email address

A new admin setting allows users to log in not only with their normal username but also with their email address.